Monday, March 07, 2011

Report: French Ministry of Finance Confirms Hack

The French Ministry of Finance has confirmed a report in a French Magazine on Monday that a widespread hack of computers on its networks occurred.

The hack, of over 150 MOF machines has been traced to computers in China and appears to have targeted documents that outline France and the G20's economic planning documents, including those addressing the issue of global trade imbalances.

The news was reported first in Paris Match Magazine (Attention: l'article est rédigé en français!) France is currently serving as the Chair of the G20 and has made tackling global trade imbalances a top priority.

Paris Match quoted French Budget Minister Francois Baroin saying that the attack was "spectacular" and involved "a number of messages," suggesting the attack may have involved phishing e-mail messages, possibly containing malicious files.

The computers affected by the attack have been cleaned and French authorities say they are investigating the incident and have leads on its origins.